Courtesan to the Queen
by Lioness Rampage
Summary: We were Ysvelda's Four. Her favorites. Her confidantes of the night and her consorts. It was not an easy job, nor a hard one. We merely gave her our loyalty and she, our queen, gave us everything.    Is M-Rated for a reason.
1. Chapter 1

We were Ysvelda's Four. Her favorites. Her confidantes of the night and her consorts. It was not an easy job, nor a hard one. We merely gave her our loyalty and she, our queen, gave us everything.

Midmorning dew settled on the panels of my bed curtains, adding a dazzling ethereal glistening to the saffron silks. It looked as if Queen Mab herself had been to grace the fabric with fae magic.

I smiled, pleased with the night's dream and of the prospects of the day that would follow my morning wakening. Stretching out from under the soft cashmere of my coverlet, I heard a slight tapping at my bedchamber door.

The air outside of my curtained bed was chill and brisk, evidently Alice had slept in again. Opening the door softly, and seeing a lad dressed in Ysvelda's livery, I smiled, careful to put as much charm into it as though he was my queen.

"La-La-La-Lady Wy-Wy- Wynter," he stammered, his eyes flitting from the polished stone floor to my breasts, which were standing quite out from the air.

"Lad, might you come in and start the fire? It is so dreadfully cold in here. Perhaps then, after some warm tea and bread, you might speak with me? I am sure your captain would not mind your helping me." I shivered for added affect and he nearly rushed in and headed to the fire place.

He was a light blonde haired lad, perhaps a foot messenger …. That would make me 6 years his senior . . . he wasn't bad looking either, I mused, tying on a sheer over gown over my amber sleeping gown. Yes, he would certainly prove a delight to have around, once he got over the stammering… Plus, a pair of strong arms, a well formed body, and his youth would help fight the cold on wintery days.

I leaned over his shoulder, careful to let my breath touch his exposed neck, "Might I have your name, kind sir?"

He turned slowly, nervous, the hairs on the back of his neck on end, towards me. He looked at me briefly and turned away, swallowing thickly, "I am no knight, Lady. I am just a messenger for the queen."

"Just a messenger? You seem a good deal more than that to me. And I would like you to call me Wyn. You are?" I smiled, sitting beside him at the hearth.

He sat down more firmly, allowing me to draw nearer, "Lark. My name is Lark."

I briefly traced the insignia on his forearm, the silver stitching bore the hammer of a blacksmith. "Lark, are you from a blacksmithing family?"

He nodded," The youngest of four brothers."

"Well, I am glad. If you were the oldest you wouldn't be here and since you are the youngest, you are here. What color are your eyes?" Asking these questions, I worried, might make him guarded, but what do boys know of guarding themselves from women. Women like us, women like me.

"Lad-Wyn, you ask many questions, why? Why do you want to know about me?"

He spoke to the coals in the fire, his hands twisting his gloves slowly, revealing a small singlet.

I sighed, "Honestly, Lark? I am lonely. And you, I like you. You're not like everyone else I meet- not caught up in titles and the like. And honest. I've overheard people say that about you."

He smiled, glancing up through his hair with his simple brown eyes towards me and back down to the floor. I stand and offer a slice of bread from a platter perched on a table of iron. He stands and takes it with a soft giving of thanks. Our hands brush and I take the moment to draw his head down to mine, fingers deftly tangling in his flaxen hair. I whisper in his ear to meet me later, the chambermaid shall let him in.

He smiles broadly, knows my meaning as I seal the promise with a less than chaste kiss to his lips and a nearly wanton pressing of our bodies.

Alice enters the room and he clears his throat, his hands firm upon my waist. His eyes flicker towards her and its clear enough, he is shy.

I release him and draw away. "Thank you for your help, Lark."

In Ysvelda's chamber, I enter upon a scene of her and the others.

Camden hangs upon her, draped nudely across her sheet wrapped body. He twists and pulls her breasts kneading and nipping her throat as she coos in a coy manner. It is the same nearly every time.

Brayen leans against a wall post, his only stitch of clothing a pair of pants that tightly grip him in an external skin of chocolate. Dark brown hair and matching eyes match my own, as he is my half-brother and he seems pleased to have me arrive.

And Lucian, he sits upon Ysvelda's bed, silent and almost brooding in a loose shirt of ink. Lucian was set to be killed a year ago and has since charmed his way into Ysvelda's bed.

She smiles limply and shakes Camden off, sauntering towards me with a hunger that only I can satisfy. She wants a woman and that much is clear. Her green eyes seem to bare me on the spot, despite I have come dressed in a gown of saffron and walking over gown of sheer black. I pull her to me and allow her head to fall towards my breasts, as she presses her mouth there probing and nipping and suckling through the fabric.

I pull her to a side chamber, our chamber, with a view of the gardens and a small servants' hall to my room. She follows me, her hands drifting from breast to lips to hips to bottom in a frenzy of want.

I smile, Camden may be the favored man, he may bring her to this point of unexplained, unvocalized want, but only I can do this to her. Only I can finish her off and bask in her arms, receive her adore. That is the gift I have as her favorite.

In my chamber she nearly tears off my gowns, and does in fact destroy the outer gown as I kiss her fully on. Her mouth is warm, wet and soft. Her hands are soft, yet rough in her ministrations and they are everywhere.

I lay her there, in the pooling sunlight of my terrace, on top of a cushion of gauze and admire her beauty- the flecks of gold in her brilliant red hair, the deep green of her eyes and the pale, freckled skin that is soft, pliant, and womanly. She is aging, it's beginning to show in the elasticity if her skin and the lightening of her fiery mane, but it makes her more than the wanton waif she was when we were younger. It makes her mine, 12 years mine.

I stoke her legs, and gently trace the curvature of them. I watch her rapt expression as she gazes at the flowers I have had fixed so that none may see our dalliances here outdoors. Her breast glow in the light, like freckled milk and the nipples are peaked in rosy areolas and they look like they will soon need attention.

And I note, as I lean over her exposed body, that her body is ready, she merely awaits me to pleasure her. She looks up at me, a gentle smile tugging her lips. "Wyn, I will never get over that look you get when you see me. That look of absolute wonder."

I look into her eyes and smile, "Ysvelda, I know you worry about you age. But I must confess, every moment I am near you I fall further in love. I love your body, your hair." I lay a hand across her hips and dip down towards her vagina, aflame at the scent of her sex oozing like nectar from a flower. "and," I whisper, " every time I do this, I want you more."

My fingers dance lightly, tracing her warmed vaginal lips , like one entranced by the overt rosiness of it all. The lips are swollen and the slight curls glisten in her nectar as my fingers part them and press up and down along her entrance, feeling the slightly bumpy skin. Her sex quivers as I take her bud in my mouth and draw on it slowly and lightly nipping it. My fingers find her vaginal hole and enter her, feeling her clench against them like a vice. She is soaked and warm. I lick and nip and twirl the bud in my mouth, tasting her salty nectar and swallow it, creating suction on her bundle of nerves.

She rises off the gauze and locks her knees around my head as she quivers and shakes like an earthquake. A flush of her sex-liquid rushes out, like a damn that comes overfilled and takes over all in its path. She screams out a fraction of my name, and falls back limply, her breath heavy and moist.

Ysvelda looks dazed, as she gazes skywards and her body trembles in aftershocks long after I have left her entrance to lie beside her. She continues to shake after I cover us with a light blanket and I hear a soft song escape her lips. And her hand reaches to pet my body as she coos, "Wyn, my Wyn. My love."

And I grin as I pull her close under the fabric because I know I am her love. I have been long before her husband's death. I killed him, I should know.


	2. Chapter 2

When first I saw her, I was perplexed.

I thought I had everything: money, power, influence, love. I had the king's heir literally in the palm of my hand. He had given me lands, horses, rooms, food, clothing, money, savings, titles, jewels, honors… but the one thing I wanted I could not have.

She was his, Sebat's soon to be bride, a red-haired gem that was to be my queen. I'd like to romantically call her hair fiery, but for truth it was not. It was the vibrant rust of tree leaves come autumn and her eyes a murky hazel like the shaded brook in Willow Ridge as it wound its dappled springtime path.

Her skin was darker than I had seen a reddened haired one, a soft honey sun-kissed look. And freckles danced upon her face like rain droplets that do not run.

I saw her in a painting.

Sebat showed me the portrait in his bed chamber. It was a gift, he said, from her father as part of the dowry agreement. She'd receive an extra month at home in the mountain plains if Sebat could have a remembrance. As if the ringed lock of her hair on his finger was not enough.

The prince, sat there on his bed, the portrait resting on his lap as he'd called me over to his bed. I climbed up and brushed his inky plait aside from his barren shoulder. His arm wound round my waist, drawing me nearer and yet blocking me.

He looked transfixed upon the canvas and smiled, gazing at her.

"she's beautiful, isn't she, Wyn?" he sighed, his silver-blue eyes lingering over the half opened bodice and flax colored chemise peeking through.

I pulled away from him, "Yes, yes. She's lovely. Is that her?" I asked, nervous, I may have been his favored mistress, but she? She would replace me. And she was lovely.

He smiled and looked at me, "you're jealous, Wyn. I can see it in the move of your breast."

"No, I'm not jealous, per say. Just worried…"

"Wyn," he grinned, "I deflowered you. I know when you are jealous." He laughed, evidently amused as he turned back to the painting.

It was nearly amusing; his participation in my lost virginity did not render him knowledgeable as to when I was jealous. Though, in a way, I was. I was jealous of him.

I sat on his bed, beside him and waited. What would I do? What could I do?

He put the portrait aside and rolled over, towards me and tugged at the pale night chemise I wore to bed the night before. "Come, Wyn, let us begin."

I smiled, and untied the chemise cording before pulling the gown off. He grinned and pulled me to sit upon his nude waist, pulling back the silken sheets of blue.

He put his hands to my cheek, cupping my face and brushing aside the stray curls before untying the ribbon that held them back. He disposed of it before running his hands down my side and to lift my hips to situate his manhood more pleasurably.

Gasping slightly, as though again shocked(something I truly was not, it merely pleased him to feel as though he was so endowed it came as a shock every time), I began my task as Courtesan.

She, Ysvelda, arrived in a caravan of gilded carriages, horses, camels, and dancers. The queen to be herself was seated on an emerald encrusted litter, dressed in a many layered, loose gown of sheer of lavender, celery green, and moon silver.

Sebat ran to her side, literally ran. He never ran for anyone other than himself. I had been assaulted by some minor lord in a stairwell and Sebat just walked up, slowly as ever. But her? Some girl he barely knew? He'd run for her?

I stood back by the rose bushes on my terrace, away from the crowds and yet able to see all. My carnation pink dress caught on a thorn as I pulled away and towards my chamber. And she, Ysvelda waved at me, smiling and drawing attention to the king's whore. Sebat looked up at her, confused as I was, then to me and back to her.

Ysvelda climbed down from her litter and headed towards the garden below my terrace as the court's eyes followed the now bare footed queen to be.

"Hello!" she called out, standing a good 8 heads below me. She looked earnest.

I leaned over the rail, calling a soft "hello" out in a barely audible vocalization. My hair-lace, fell down from my hands and floated on the light breeze until she caught it with a pleasant grin eclipsing her hazel- almond eyes. Her hair sparkled even out of the sun and shone like autumn leaves.

"May I come up, Lady?" she asked, still looking up.

"Your Grace, I am no lady. I am Wyn." I whispered as Sebat sauntered over to his betrothed.

"Lady Wyn, you are in a castle, on a grand terrace overlooking the comings and goings of a court with mild interest and yet you are not a lady?" She smirked. "I will return this," she gestured towards the ribbon in her grip, "to you."

Sebat had then gripped her arm very possessively and hauled her away, looking back over his blue mantle towards me with a scowl. He mouthed the word "corrupt" and stalked away.

Great. Just great. That is just what I need. My future king worried I will corrupt his queen.


	3. Chapter 3

Sebat stared down from above, glaring hideously as he wiped the blood from his hand on his breeches and turned, his face lost in chiaroscuro, the result of the fire and the dark night out of doors churning in a storm. Stalking away like a cat after its finished toying with a mouse and seeks finer pate` to consume.

I waited until I heard him bar his door before I rose and pressed my fingers to my face. It stung and pulling my hands back, I saw the reason why. It was a bloody mess. Walking lightly towards a looking glass, I could see the effects of catching Ysvelda's eye. A bruise lurked in lavenders and blues whilst a little blood ran down my pale cheek. I sat down and proceeded to wipe the mess up.

A knocking came to my door and I softly called out, "Come in," whilst hiding the marks behind a fascade of brushing my hair.

The green- painted door opened as Ysvelda came in. I dropped the brush and stood up rapidly- if Sebat should see her here now… She smiled, coming over amiably in a champagne chemise done up around the bottom in lace heart.

I stood behind the chair, likely grimacing. . . She was so... beautiful. The way her mane curled down about her breast in a dark red swirl… and her glowing eyes of hazel eclipsing in yet another dazzling smile. . .

She stopped, looking nervous and as I moved closer towards the terrace, I slipped backwards, falling on my arse. Ysvelda was at my side, bringing me to my feet in a matter of seconds and with a hushed "Are you well?" she brushed aside my hair to see Sebat's mark.

I looked down as concern etched her pretty, freckled face… She leaned closer, inspecting the bruise with soft, cool fingers and waited.

"You shouldn't be here, My Lady." I whispered softly to her.

She lifted my chin up and tried to catch my eye. "I know. I came anyways."

Daring to meet her gaze, my eyes saw green and bronze before they shut, as her lips met mine lightly.

The kiss was soft, gentle and … almost innocent. It wasn't a demand or a need, it was a simple, lingering question.

She pulled back and broke the contact, "I'm sorry I …"

And I kissed her back.

She never did return the ribbon.

But that night. That was something I will never forget. I just sat with her under the covered part of my terrace with a thick blanket and watched the storm. Our hands were entwined and I awoke the following morning to a piece of a lace heart and nothing more than a red ring of braided hair- another question.

A question answered by slipping it on a chain and hiding it under my gown.


	4. Chapter 4

Sebat was gone on a raiding campaign in the north, near Dwoerth Province. The Bentari were breaching peace agreements by invading the province's mountain villages and pillaging their winter stores and burning their homes to the ground. He was to join the soldiers there and put an end to the raids.

The night before he left, he came to my room and walked in my bathing room as I listened to Alice read from an old text in the tongue of Portsmere, my home. He stood there, in the doorway, smiling as I piled the bubbles from my bath upon my body.

"Wyn," he called, " there is a raiding party coming towards the palace. I want you to take Ysvelda to Portsmere. An escort would draw too much attention, so I've places supplies out at the temple. Go after my party leaves. And alone."

I nodded. "Do I take a cart and horse or just horses?"

He sat down beside the bathing pool and dipped his hand in, plucking at my hair, "Go pick flowers, vere into the woodlands and you'll find our place." He smiled, rubbing the strands between his finger tips. He kissed my forehead absentmindedly, allowing his blue eyes to run down my body and he left, drying his hands on his black breaches.

As he spoke, I remembered "our place", an old one room cabin with one bed and a small kitchen outfitted with a two person table. It used to be whitewashed and housed a small barn long since abandoned. It had been a couple of years since we last used it and I smiled at the memory fondly as those had been pleasant times. Times before when he'd try to seduce me and pleasure me before himself. That was the location of my lost virginity.

After having Alice pour the rosewater over my head, I climbed out of the bathing pool and grabbed a rough, hand woven towel to dry with and stood behind a curtain partition.

Home, take her home? And a raiding party was to come here? We would need to leave during the flurry of activity and be dressed down until we came to Portsmere, my province with its own estate. The place of my birth already, after becoming courtesan to the heir to the throne I was given, by Sebat and his father, the province and estate house for Midsummer Solstice.

The estate itself was a small port city, populated by the more seafaring, hardy and stout of heart people of the nation tended to live there as Portsmere was readily accessible by sea, but by land… There was only one mountain pass that was able to be crossed in only the summer.

We would follow the trails from the cabin towards the main road then follow that to the sea town of Eyrthin. And Lane would take us on the Skipper to Portsmere.

That was the plan.


	5. Chapter 5

He left that day, quiet as ever at our morning meal. He didn't speak to me, or to Ysvelda, not even when we tried to entertain him with talk of horses and sports or what to do to celebrate his return.

Ysvelda carried on longer than she ought, pressing her luck with his temper, I felt. She continued prattling on at length about this courtier's Mid-Summer's Ball in Northern Kordel and how we should all go there to visit them. She in her dandelion yellow satin gown with the gathered skirts and slashed sleeves revealing her pink under gown, she just continued talking until Sebat turned to me and asked what we would be dining on in Portsmere for the Mid-Summer gathering.

"I should think," I began, staring at my plate, " Sire, that we might dine on a variety of foods, your favored fish of course being served, and perhaps a few sides from around the kingdom. It would solidify ties and bring more awareness to our guests about the strengths of each estate. Additionally, I've been looking into a few older traditions, perhaps a themed bit on a period? Each attendee arrives and acts as their ancestor would have done. "

"That sounds interesting." He rolled his eggs in a piece of toasted bread, placing a piece of sausage over each roll before biting down, allowing the butter-grease mix to drip into small puddles on his platter.

"The main issue is finding a time that would not be insulting to the guests as many have had eccentric ancestors," I said, lifting my glass to sip lightly from the cider spiced with mint.

"I see. You have full range of the libraries, and liberty to take that which will assist on your trip." Sebat slowly mulled over his breakfast, his body sitting askew in the grand chair at the end of the table. He wiped his hands on a cloth and beckoned a liveried servant from the side of the room, signing for him to refill his glass.

"Thank you, if you should have a likening towards any particular period, please tell me and I will arrange for the costumes as needed, " I replied, trying not to choke on my drink. I had always had his and his father's before him permission to use the library as I chose since being a child; the only rule I had with those was to return them when I was done as I had found them.

"I take it you'll not be needing my measurements," Sebat downed the berry drink and stood, not waiting for the servant to assist him as was deemed proper in the company of the queen.

"I've memorized them." I replied quietly, hating briefly the fact that I was causing her pain by taking his favor at the moment.

A quick grin flashed across his face as Ysevelda's face seemed to fall, he was obviously excluding her from the conversation, a heady punishment for a queen. She looked out of the terrace doors and to the gardens below, perhaps trying to salvage some dignity in pretending to be preoccupied with pleasant thoughts.

I stayed quiet after he walked out of the room, waiting for no one and seeming to stalk his way out of the private eating quarter and through the hallway. I could feel the stares penetrating their way into my mind, half of the servants were glaring and glancing about as if I was diseased. The other half seemed to either not exist or to at least understand how little control I had of the situation.

Ysevelda looked up from her lap and glanced at me before propping her elbows on the table. She ran her slim fingers through her hair, upsetting the coifed copper curls in her haste, her breath coming in near rapid spurts. I saw her shudder before I told the servants to leave and that I would clear the table myself, they could go rest for the farewell party later. They left, a few of them mumbling their gratitude and mentioning that they would be glad to assist when I called.

Once the door was secured and bolted proper, I went to her side and kneeled in my morning gown of lavender and pale green. I took her hands and in mine and began to trace the ridges of them, of her fingers with my own. Her hazel eyes met mine, a mix of pain and confusion pooling in them until she slid out of the chair and into my arms. I held her to myself, rubbing her back and soothing her hair as she cried into my neck.

I could feel the heat of her cheek sear my skin as cool tears trickled down from her cheek and to my neck, feeling them graze the top of my skin as she wrapped her arms about my torso. It hurt to see her like this, to know that not only had she been made to feel so debased, but that she couldn't hold it back. She was hurt, vulnerable and I hated that he made her feel that way.

"Vel, I have something to tell you. It's important so please meet my eyes." Her face came to meet mine, her eyes ringed in red, but the tears had stopped long enough for her to see me.

"Vel, after Sebat leaves, you and I are leaving as well. The palace is no longer safe, and I know where we will be safe. Sebat is headed to try and secure the borders in the North East against the raiders. There is reason to believe that they are being financed by one of the lords living here.

We will wait until the festivities are under way and we will leave. I will come to your chambers through the servant's entrance by the terrace curtains and will have your travel garb. We change and leave from here in the night, so rest well.

I have much to do and once I see to your chamber being secured properly from everyone, I will leave you to sleep. There will be no stopping this evening, not even to eat.

When I come to escort you away, I will prove it is safe to open the door by asking you to which direction the wind blows. The answer is to be Northeast if I slip a piece of black fabric under your door. Do not open the door for any reason if I say anything but "which was does the wind blow". Promise me. If I slip a white sheet under, say to the South.

My horses are readied in a hidden place and will carry us to our destination. On the journey, you will cease to be Ysvelda, and become a sister of mine."

Ysvelda pulled back from me, looking in my eyes. "There is a threat in the palace?"

"Sebat found a dead rat waiting for him in the stables, a tag that was labeled with your name graced its neck. A dog in heat was found dead with my name cut into her side, she was found on my terrace this morning. "

"I understand." With that, Ysvelda stood and adopted a regal air, as though I were coming to her to ask about what color linens we'd deck the tables with.


	6. Chapter 6

He kissed her once goodbye, briefly on the nose, before the palace's goodbye party, his eyes trained on my own.

It felt, briefly, as if the entire court was watching the three of us in our odd triangle. The King, his whore, and his wife, though the whore seemed to be getting the better end of the deal this round. I even saw the orange bracelet I had made him years ago, when we were just children, wrapped round his wrist.

And then he was gone.

In the midst of everything, I grabbed Ysvelda and ushered her inside to her rooms, throwing up bolts and other such barriers around, including a metal guard for her glass terrace doors and slipping a massive bolt of wood through her chamber doors, effectively preventing anyone from opening it. I layered her under mattress with weapons, showing her briefly how to use each, from a bladed fan covered in floral silks to a staff marked with steel thorns at one end.

She seemed convinced we needed to be seen out of doors together, showing a united front to the courtiers before we vanished and I disagreed. So I put her to rest, ensuring the reach to the weapons was easy and that she'd not be surprised by any one. I then had her secure the bolts up and down the door I was leaving through; instructing her on ensuring the quality of the seal was impenetrable.

She reopened the door at once, her face suddenly flushed and her look quite determined. Her hand reached around my head, her fingers entangling into my braid, and she pulled me into a kiss, effectively shutting my soon to be lecture on safety short. Her lips were firm, warm and the kiss was pointed, her words that followed were more so.

"Come back soon."

She locked the door.

I leaned against the wall, forgetting momentarily the seconds wasted counted.

We needed to leave and I knew why. To get to Portsmere, if we dawdled, would take weeks. If we moved before the rainy season and before the crowds gathering for the sea shore festivals, we could be there by the following week. I also knew that when I was directed to take her away, it wasn't just because the palace was unsafe to raiders, but that we had enemies within the palace who would seek to turn us against each other.

I slipped into the dark under passages that ran between the grand floors and in the very walls of the palace, keeping to the center of the slick walls, careful to avoid the loose stones in the ground that could cause a broken leg.

My own quarters were easier to enter, having the knowledge of how in fact to enter them. There was a time when being a young girl at court with no noble blood was far more dangerous than it was now. Now things had greatly changed, partly because I pushed Sebat to change them by denying him for close to a half year.

…

What a strange time that had been. I ran off to Portsmere and stayed there for a winter, sealed and protected by the harsh winter weather. He could not come by land and none of our shipmasters were in Eyrthin, thus rendering him effectively locked away from me till the snow melted or the seas calmed. When he sought me out that spring by land, I passed him by sea and headed back to the palace to await his return. It was silly to think that if he were patient, I would have met him half way between Portsmere and Halva, the capital city.

I digress, when he finally returned back to the palace in Halva, he was in quite a temper. By the time he'd found I was no longer in Portsmere, the raining season had begun and he was stuck there till early summer, while I was waiting in the palace. He entered the city and ran his stead hard all the way into the palace. He dismounted in the central hall, let the yellow stallion roam as he pleased, and headed directly to my quarters.

The doors were unlocked, but shut and he entered and strode right up to my chaise on near the terrace. He looked wild, dirty and angry, his hair no longer neatly plaited down his back, but rather falling out of a tail and his clothes covered in dust. I felt a flicker of fear as he came closer, I could smell him from just paces away until he pulled me up out of my seat and held me close to him. His arms seemed to shake as I was held there, pressed against his wide chest in what felt like an embrace. His hands found mine and he released me enough to pull me with him to my bathing chamber.

"Sebat, I am sure I was quite clear, until we can have protection for others, I won't do anything of that nature with you." He looked over at me and pulled me close again, his voice but a low rumble as I was informed he'd already set the laws in place with hefty repercussions to any breaker of the laws. It was enacted not long after I initially left for my other home.

He then released me and began to set the fountains to fill the pool with warm water and I went to my cabinet of oils and cleansers. I pulled out one that I knew he liked to use and poured a portion of the vial in the filling pool.

I then stoked the fire in the hearth near the slated windows and hung his towel on a rod, adding a set of his clothes beside on a chair. We did not speak, we did not have to.

He wanted a chance to bathe and I knew him best, how to help without seeming to be waiting on him, because in truth I wasn't waiting on him. I may have been little more than a servant, courtesan was an odd caste of both above the servant class and yet, in some respects below it entirely, and yet I knew that we both knew I cared more about him than I did serving him.

That time was a good time, and it lead to several more.

Time passed and one night, when Sebat and I strolled around the gardens, I listening to him talk about some quarrel had in the counseling room, we came across a young girl, similar to my own starting as a young playmate to a noble child, was found while and older man had attempted to hurt her, but found himself on the other end of Sebat's sword and he died quickly. I had escorted her to my own chambers prior to the deadly exchange and saw to it that she was allotted a safe home in Portsmere, with the woman who brought me up until I found my way to court. As of late, Kinly is currently off at another castle as a friend of the Princess of Ullith.


	7. Chapter 7

The palace was safer, or at least was until late. The recollection of dead animals as warnings, particularly the one on my own terrace, was sobering.

I entered my chamber and fell at once to changing to less formal attire and to simple breeches and a blouse under a tunic. My riding boots would be packed in my bags until the time came to actually ride as silence was necessity.

Looking in the looking glass placed above my vanity, I wondered how I would manage to get both of us out of here, out of Halva as a whole, and safely to Portsmere. How would I manage to safely get her from her quarters, to the cottage in the woods, then down to a half-mark town of Gry, from there a road that led to Eyrthin, hire a skipper to take us around the cliff rich cove and into the harbor of my home? All without her copper locks and hazel eyes not being recognized as belonging to the Queen.

I knew she was from Noren, which meant she could probably ride a horse. Most likely a side-saddle noblewoman's riding style, but none the less she was likely not frightened by the horses to begin with. As the weeks of our acquaintance grew, I still had only seen her on the carried litter and in a carriage as far as her means of travel besides the requisite walking.

I re-plaited my hair and rechecked my small satchel, knowing it would be joined by bigger, fuller ones when we finally rode off.

A glance to the sun out of doors told me the majority of the inhabitants would soon be gathering in the great dining hall, ready to await their queen and to feast. Only, she would not arrive. By the time someone lady was sent to fetch her, she would be tucked away into a far off cabin, long forgotten and then she would be on her way to my estates.

I was nervous about taking her there. What would she think? So used to this palace and all its splendor? I loved my home. It was strong, stout and not over done to show off wealth as many seemed to believe it would be. I kept the wood unpainted and the windows opened; tapestries hung from the walls as decoration, when the natural beauty of plants did not climb the walls.

Where would she stay when we arrived? Did the kisses and embraces mean what they meant with others? Whenever Sebat arrived in Portsmere when I was in residence, he had his own chambers and I stayed in them as he wished. He rarely entered mine, understanding that I seldom had my own space at the palace and at every other estate I had "rooms" at. Would she expect his apartments? Or the Lily Room just across from it? There was the Gilded Room beside my outer apartments. Perhaps she would stay in one of my apartments, an outer or inner ring? Inner, I felt was best, I could watch her closer that way and protect her better then. I would try to put her in larger room directly connected to my bedchamber. Finding a suitable bed would not be hard, there were plenty.

I lay on my bed, turning the dials of a waking time turner once, just one hour, and tried to will myself asleep.

…


	8. Chapter 8

I never fell asleep, and when the bells rang out for the populace to enter the dining hall, I slipped back into the passages and slipped a black fabric oval under the door before asking which way the wind blew. My boots were hung over the satchel band slung over my torso and I awaited her response, which was to open the door and smile brightly in a travel blouse of green and breeches of brown.

Ysvelda smiled as I entered the room, took her hands.

"I came as quickly as I could. Are you ready?" I asked, looking over the clean room that appeared quite normal in spit e of everything.

She pulled off my satchel and hugged her body to mine, "I've been wanting to do this for some time now."

I blushed as I reached up to kiss her lips, her riding boots making her taller than I, and smiled into it.

It was different than kissing Sebat husband, a man I knew since I was three summers. Her kiss was sweeter, softer and yet more everything. It was a feat to be able to pull away as her tongue sought to enter my mouth.

"Vel, we really have to go." I whispered as I was loosened, heading to pick the bags back up and towards the servant's entrance.

She came up behind me and retorted that the sooner we left the better because she wasn't finished with me yet.

I grinned fair like a man at those words, before I pulled her behind me into the dark.


	9. Chapter 9

It was not too hard to make it out past the guards, most of whom easily ignored two women in peasant garb, coming from an exit with several other palace workers. Once out past the keep's walls, we ran along the hills and dales of the meadows until we reached the woods.

From there I guided her through the labyrinth that kept the cottage hidden and to the small stables where two horses, my gelding Shadfex and a yellow mare, waited.

Ysvelda didn't speak much, save the most direct and necessary words, like that she would ride both legs astride the horse's body and that she would follow me out of the area and to wherever I deemed safe.

I checked the map once and showed her where I had hoped to stop at come morning, a small community of farmers just outside Zonal City would be aptly able to hide take us in their barns if we presented a worthy case. If not, I knew of an Inn where the keepers were discrete enough to harbor both of us and we could stay till dark. The inn was just in the city's reaches.

Ysvelda nodded, and signaled for me to take the lead down the paths in the moonlight, down past the heather and along a dirt road.

Shadfex pulled at his brindle, eager to get on the road after all the time I had neglected him of late. I loosened my hold on his leather leads, knowing that the great freedom he had to move, the faster we'd get to Zonal. With a quick toss of his light mane, we headed off slowly and silently in the dark.

Vel on her mare seemed calm enough to follow a few heads lengths behind us.

…

Passing out of Halva at night was an easy task, the soldiers weren't in town with the raids and the people were quiet, most of them engaged indoors or around small fires glowing in the dark courtyards that flourished between housing, regardless of the type.

Strange, though, it was to think that Halva might never be the same. Both monarchs were leaving the capital for safety. Well, Sebat went to face dangers along the north, but Vel was being taken to safety. At least where Sebat went the enemy was marked and did not slink in shadows or scale a woman's terrace to leave frightening, sobering messages. Death threats.

To think we might never return home again? Home to me had always been Portsmere, I was born and lived in the Palace of Halva, Capital of All of Morein Kingdom, but that small town was my home. In a strange way, Halva had become a second home. And to Ysvelda, I'm sure she had thought it would be her final home, having left her childhood behind in the mountain providence she was born unto.

Shadfex veered to the right, at the urging of my foot, passing an old pub, the lights from within gleaming a warm yellow, the double doors spilling out a small crowd of merry-doers singing songs of love, of home, and of pride. Vel raced up, putting herself on the other side of my mount and farthest away from the people who began to alternately yell and shush each other as they disappeared into the dark.

I smiled at them, how I wished I could feel the calm peace of a warm drink on a night. To drink among friends whose lives weren't spent caught up in the high politics of court life. It would be nice, it would be divine to not worry about the gossip of whose husband I was entertaining when. As far as reality went, I'd only been with one youth aside from Sebat and then when I was younger. That was when Jesside took Sebat's fancy. Without Sebat's money, I doubt any man would take her in, her title of course then devolving from Lady Jesside to the Whore to the Whore of the King. Quite a silly thing, these titles.

Never the less, we quickly passed from the central squares of the outer town ring and to the old dirt paths that delineated property of the peasant classes, each getting what they could manage and a little more being given each generation. The city was left behind us, the sole telling of its locale now a sort of glow being given off from far away.

A brief chill wind blew, setting an easy cold shiver and giving warning to Farther Winds bringing rain with them.

"Vel," I called out, trying to look for a suitable shelter this far out, but seeing very little. How could I not have seen this coming? Getting caught in the Farther Rains was a bad thing indeed, especially without a nick of shelter on a platform of some sort.

She pulled up beside me, her horse seeming to jump from the darkness and whinnied out to Shadfex, who merely ignored the younger mare. I smiled; he'd had his time with the fillies when he was younger.

She was quiet, but said, "Yes?" clearly enough to be heard over the now growing wind. Her hand pulled her hair behind her ear and went back up to rub her other arm.

"Vel, we need to get off the path here soon and just run fields to Zonal, we can make it there in time, before the rains come if we move quickly. I'm thinking the Inn would be good." I offered, placating my mind with thoughts of seeing her safely swaddled in a down bed rather than imagine that I had gotten her laid up with a chill. I pulled my oilskin from a satchel tied onto Shadfex's saddle and tossed it over to her.

I tried not to watch her pull it over her clothes and tie it up near the throat, the hood of it pulled too forward, falling over her face. I also tried not to laugh, knowing she was cross and tired merely from the way she sighed and jerked heavily on the cloak.

"Once I get out of this blasted storm, I am going to bed. You will not wake me until the following night, where upon I must insist that we move quicker to wherever it is we are going." Ysvelda growled, untangling herself within the cloak and kicking her horse into greater speed.

I ushered my mount to keep up, enjoying the feel of flying from his back. Why ever had I stopped riding him? The feel of his muscles pulling us closer to where we needed to be was intoxicating, I could feel the strain as we flew over the lands.


	10. Chapter 10

We made the journey to the Inn in what seemed like record time, given that not long after Vel took the lead, the rainclouds burst.

Her mount whinnied louder than before, the silly mare clearly frightened of the Farther Rains. Shadfex took over the ride, drawing us closer together and clamping his mouth down on the mare's reins, tugging her alongside us as I directed him towards Zonal City.

The air bit hard into my legs, prompting me to stretch an oiled skin over Shadfex's neck and head, cooing softly to his ear that he let me lead, I would care for the path. Seeing this, Yesvelda leaned further over her young mare and shared her cloak.

Finding the stoned path was a true joy, given the fields had begun making sucking sounds, as if begging to pull Shadfex and the horse later called Rone into the slick mud. I yelled over the winds threatening to make us deaf, that we were nearly there, though I couldn't see more than a few feet before us.

At last I spotted the warm lights from the inn and her stables, careful as I slid off Shadfex and hurried us in to my usual part of the stable, the sort of half-house between stable and kitchen. Inside, I set to unpacking the horses and helping Ysvelda to a warm tub of water.

Once the basics were covered, and a fire lit proper in the hearth, I knocked on the kitchen door. It was answered by a homely woman, Kida. She opened the door presently and pulled me inside by the arm.

Kida frowned, her warm face full of worry as she tucked a strand of greying hair behind her ear. "Child, you'll be the death of me. I was fretting about wondering when you'd arrive and wondering if we'd have to host that king of yours, nice lad and all, but such niceties make a woman nervous. Do I sit or do I not? Do I curtsey or bow?"

I smiled at her from under the chill of my messed and soaked hair. "You know I wouldn't have you bow or curtsey to anyone, not even Sebat, Kida."

"That's why I'm half worried you've run off on him again." Kida placed her arm across my shoulders and pulled me in by the water basin placed near the large window. "He nearly tore the place apart looking for you the last time before it crossed his mind that you'd run off to Portsmere. Once he managed to get word that you were safely holed up in that province of yours and that he couldn't get to you until the spring, he was nice enough. Even helped in the fields."

I hugged Kida and was delighted to feel her warmth, the woman had been kind to me since I was a youngling. "Actually, Sebat has gone to the northern borders and asked me to head to Portsmere, at once, for safety. He sends his regards and said he should like to visit once things die down up there."

Her eyes widened as the door behind us opened slowly, I turned and smiled at Ysvelda, offering out my hand for her to take. "Kida, this is Sebat's Queen, Ysvelda. I am supposed to take her with me."

Vel, for her part, appeared there like any other woman. Her clothes were plain, her hair was braided back, clean, though wet from her bath. She looked quite common then. No tiara, no silly jewels dangling about. I thought she looked quite lovely.

It was Kida who seemed oddly out of place with her sudden recollection of what it was like at court. She held onto my arm and did some sort of strange bob of respect, and elbowed my ribcage quite pointedly. "Wyn, I swear by the Gods themselves, you will learn to warn me about your guests. Sebat was more expected granted that you were chosen as his playmate so long ago, and brought up for the task, but a Queen?"

"Mistress Kida," Vel began, "if you please, I've only been a queen a few months. I've been lesser nobility my whole life, so please do not worry over it. I'd much rather be treated common-like."

Kida laughed, "Common-like? Wyn, I like this one. Much better than that stiffer who came to complain about your 'lost virtue' a couple of years ago."

I groaned at the recollection, coming to lean against the sink and beginning to scrub away at the dishes there.

"Do tell, Mistress." Vel smiled, taking up a stool near the fire-stove.

Kida looked at me, then turned back to Vel. "Well, we'll have to start from the beginning."

Vel piped in quickly, "But of course!"

"Not long ago, Wyn's mother, Kelianna, was in a similar state herself, a friend to the King, as they say. King Joren later married the Countess Helia and around that same time, Kelianna fell for a merchant out of Portsmere. Joren, seeing Kelianna's affection for the merchant, released her from his service, granting her money and lands. They parted as friends and a few months later, Sebat was born to Joren and Helia.

Kelianna found herself with child some small time later, and then Wynter was born. Kelianna and her husband brought their small family to visit the keep there in the city and young Sebat found a liking towards the toddler. He was then 7 winters and she was 3. An arrangement came that it would be a pity to break traditions, and it came about that Wyn would live with Joren and Helia, Helia having taken a liking to her, and possibly grow to fill a similar role as her mother, should she so choose.

As I recall, Sebat's liking for her gave way under the excitement of weapons training and she grew closer to Helia, adopting a sort of daughter role that the woman had missed. How many years went by, Wyn, that Sebat was pulling at your braids and locking you in the towers?"

Wyn sighed, rolling her eyes, "I was 6 when it started and it stopped when I was about 14. So 8?"

"8 years turned and suddenly Sebat changed, he treated her like a lady and tried wooing her. I believe that was about the first time you left him. You see, Wyn was confused as to why he suddenly changed and started following her about, making sure she was safe. She came to me and stayed a few days until Queen Helia arrived, saying that Sebat was to be leaving soon for a different kingdom. Something about foreign diplomacy and needing to grow up some. Helia took her back to the keep and Sebat left, leaving a flower on Shadfex's old stable door and a kiss on her hand."

"Wyn grew up a good deal in the two years Sebat was abroad and was growing fonder of the prince she wrote to weekly. When Sebat arrived home, Wyn stood watch in the solarium's terrace with Queen Helia, racing down the stairs and out to the courtyards when he entered. It was funny, seeing her tear through the castle and then stand there dignified as if she hadn't upset the laundry maids and nearly ripped her bodice open on her way out the doors."

Sebat dismounted his horse, strode to his Mother and then embraced her, before offering her his arm. A few moments later, he saw Wynter and he ignored her. Wyn then left the party and stayed locked in her room for the entirety of the feast and ball.

A few weeks later, she caught a hide ball and he chased her. A few more months down the road, she claimed her position as his mistress. About a year later, she took off as he wouldn't push a law through protecting young women from the advances of older, male courtiers and he followed her, not knowing how to get to her as the land of Portsmere was locked by land and sealed by sea. And I believe that you know their story from there.

However, in the time prior to the law being passed, they split amicably, each choosing to find new partners, one of which was the Lady Jesside. Wyn found a Lord Mycel. Jesside and Mycel are now married, are they not?"

Wyn faced Vel, "with three children in nearly the same number of years."

"Well, Miss Jesside, nosy as can be, came here to inform me that my former charge, a young Wynter, had taken to the prince, a lad four years her senior, and was of all things shocking, had given herself to him. As if it weren't completely natural, given the circumstances. Two young adults, living together under one very large roof, with very similar courtly experiences? So I says to her, off-handedly, 'Would you deny such a fine, young man?' and she stormed out of here. Wasn't until I wrote to Wyn and she arrived with Sebat that I found out that indeed, Lady Jesside did not deny the prince."

I peeked over my shoulder at Ysvelda, hearing her laugh ring out softly.

The dishes are cleaned, the counters swept free of all debris, and I dry my hands thoroughly on a roughly woven cloth. Stifling a yawn, Kida suggests we make for bed, its late and she intuits that I'd like to keep moving. I nod in agreement, suddenly concerned about how we'll share the small room.

Vel seems relaxed and ushers me aside into my own bath, sharing that it was only fair that she return the gesture. Shadfex and Rone have already been seen to by the stable-hands and currently stand, asleep, in the far end of the room. Our bags lie where I had thrown them earlier, only a few of them are open now.

I'm grateful for the curtain around the bathing tub as it hides my bareness. It's not that I fear Vel seeing me nude- we're both women and in all truth, when we travel around about the country for a variety of fairs, we change around each other. It's much too hard to avoid.

It's now that things seemed to have... progressed between us that I feel nervous. That's not to say that things between us have never been charged, they have always been rather intense for our circumstances.

These are thoughts that I muse over in the small metal tub, a curtain ringing the corner off and a fine drizzle landing just outside the wall. I scrub at my hair, seeking to part the small particles of dirt and sweat from it, and then turn to my skin once the bubbles lose their froth.

I take a pitcher of the now cooled water that lies adjacent to the basin, stand and let it rinse away the suds, allowing a few more turns to finish me off. Stepping from the tub, I go to the small stand behind the curtain as I am and pull from it a sleeping gown of lilac.

The dress slid easily over my form, clinging little as I tied back the stays from the waist and replaited my hair. I came out from behind the curtains nervously. While I had spent much time with Vel, I had never so much as attempted anything other than a slight nap in her presence.

I pulled a bit of hay from a pile near the horses, already dozing away ,and spread a rough sleeping sack over, knowing from experience that it would make a suitable bed for myself. I looked up at hearing Vel ask something.

"What are you doing? You don't really intend to sleep there?" She asked, sliding away from the bed I had personally used with her husband in the days after their betrothal was announced. It made me feel odd.

"I'll be quite fine, your Grace. We won't be sleeping on so fine of beds in the near future for quite some time, so I suggest we each get our rest and take it for all its worth." I articulated, while checking the door locks were slid in place and the curtains were drawn.

I turned back to see her padding over to my makeshift bed coming to bend and spread the fabric of the roll out farther. She looked at me from the side, her head upside-down.

"I can never get warm enough to sleep on my own. In the manor, my sister and I shared a bed. When Sebat began sleep elsewhere, he brought me a dog." Vel laughs, but I can see there's something hidden in the laughter. "If you slept in the bed, we'd both be warm and comfortable. You're right about the beds though," she continues through my silence, " we shan't have very good ones soon, so sharing a nice one seems most agreeable, don't you think?"

Seeing the alternative included sharing a pile of hay, I relented. Vel sawthis and turned the covers down, fluffing the pillows as if we're no more than sisters. As if she's not a queen and I'm not a courtesan.

I climb in the bed, choosing to opt for the open side nearest the small window for fear of someone finding out who inhabits the rooms. My hands feel for the blades Sebat and I both placed under the mattress, for all his faults, he always wanted me to be able to defend myself. I find them and exhale a small breath that I have unconsciously held since we made to leave Halva.

Vel shifts into the bed and I blow out the candle beside me on a small stand, smiling as I hear her small voice whisper "Goodnight."

I snuggle down into the quilts and place my hand on hers, "Goodnight, Vel. May your dreams be sweet." I withdraw from the contact, prepared to simply fall asleep, but her hand finds my cheek and her face looms nearer, pale in the slight light coming from the moon out of the window.

She presses her lips to my forehead and then to my lips, pulling away gently. "They will be, I have you."

I drift asleep, only to wake to her shifting my head on her arm and her feet freezing cold on my calves. Her eyes are shut firmly, only her mouth's twitches at the corners give her away.

"You know, for such a lovely, normal head, yours is incredibly heavy."

"I didn't intend to fall asleep on you." I retort, smirking and readjusting my body to alleviate her now numb arm.

"I never said I minded, just that you had a heavy head." Her eyes dance all emeralds and copper as her soft skin blushes.

"Incredibly heavy."

"Isn't it?" she smiles, twirling some strand of hair that neither of us can quite determine the owner.

I roll my eyes, checking to see if I can gauge the time based on the light out of doors. Midmorning. Good, plenty of time to prepare for the following night's journey. Vel sits upright and her hair catches the sunlight, throwing about her a red halo with a braid falling over one shoulder.

"You know, my hair will give us away. Do we have any inks?" Vel asks.


End file.
